Editing Preservation Hall

{{Short description|Jazz club in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, US}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

[[Image:PreservationHall 2008.jpg|upright|thumb|Front door of the Preservation Hall]]
'''Preservation Hall''' is a jazz venue on St Peter Street in the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. The building is associated with [[Preservation Hall Jazz Band|a house band]], a record label, and a non-profit foundation.

== History of the jazz hall ==
[[Image:PreservationHallClosed2.jpg|left|thumb]]
In the 1950s, art dealer [[Larry Borenstein]] from Milwaukee managed  what would become Preservation Hall in the French Quarter as an art gallery, Associated Artists. To attract customers, he invited local jazz musicians to play for tips. After a time, the music started drawing more attention than the art.<ref name="Farbenbloom">{{cite web|last1=Farbenbloom|first1=Frank|title=Remembering Larry Borenstein and Preservation Hall|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/remembering-larry-borenstein-and-preservation-hall/|website=The Syncopated Times|access-date=30 April 2020|language=en|date=30 April 2020}}</ref> In May 1961, Borenstein turned management over to Ken Grayson Mills and Barbara Reid, who turned it into a music venue and named it "Preservation Hall".<ref>{{Cite news|url= http://www.lacroixrecords.com/part11.html |title=Preservation Hall: The Rest of the Story |last=Ekins|first=Richard|newspaper= Just Jazz, No. 235, pp. 18-25 |access-date=2020-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url= http://www.lacroixrecords.com/reid%20pt7.html |title=On the Origin of Preservation Hall|last=Ekins|first=Richard|newspaper= Just Jazz, No. 255, pp. 20-29 |access-date=2020-06-23}}</ref>

After their honeymoon in 1961, [[Allan Jaffe]] and his wife Sandra visited to hear some traditional New Orleans jazz. The Jaffes were from Pennsylvania. Allan Jaffe was a tuba player who had graduated from the [[Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania|Wharton School of Business]] in Philadelphia, while his wife had been employed at an advertising agency. They attended concerts, grew to love the French Quarter, and stayed longer than they had intended. Borenstein asked if they wanted to manage Preservation Hall, and they agreed, taking over in September 1961.<ref name="Sancton">{{cite web|last1=Sancton|first1=Tom|title=The Venerable, Musical History of Preservation Hall in New Orleans|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/preservation-hall-201201|website=Vanity Fair|access-date=18 November 2017|language=en|date=9 December 2011}}</ref>

Allan Jaffe hired local musicians whose ages ranged from the 60s to the 90s. Many were struggling with poverty, racism, and illness. At first, the Jaffes served no alcohol, used no amplification, and refused to advertise. In 1963, Allan Jaffe began to tour with bands in the U.S. and in other countries. These tours included such musicians as pianist [[Sweet Emma Barrett]], trumpeter [[Kid Thomas Valentine]], brothers [[Percy Humphrey]] and [[Willie Humphrey]], pianist [[Billie Pierce]] and her husband, trumpeter [[De De Pierce]]. The most popular was clarinetist [[George Lewis (clarinetist)|George Lewis]], whose reputation preceded the Hall. Fans from all over the world came to New Orleans to hear traditional jazz.<ref name="Sancton" />

=== The foundation ===
The Preservation Hall Foundation is a [[501(c)(3) organization]] primarily dedicated to Preservation Hall's educational initiatives, including but not limited to providing private lessons to youth taught by New Orleans jazz musicians, coordinating group lessons with the Preservation Hall Junior Jazz Band, presenting workshops during Preservation Hall Jazz Band tours, or maintenance of the ever-growing Preservation Hall archives. The Foundation also provides a free online learning resource for music educators and students called the Preservation Hall Foundation Brass Bandbook including the songs "Bourbon Street Parade", "Just a Closer Walk with Thee", "Lil' Liza Jane", "Down by the Riverside", "Didn't He Ramble", "Lord, Lord, Lord", "I'll Fly Away", "Joe Avery's Piece", "Paul Barbarin's Second Line", "Old Rugged Cross", "By and By", and "Do Whatcha Wanna".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brass Bandbook — New Orleans Sheet Music |url=https://www.preshallfoundation.org/brassbandbook |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Preservation Hall Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Further reading ==
* ''Preservation Hall'' by William Carter
* "Song for My Fathers" by [[Tom Sancton]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.preservationhall.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.lacroixrecords.com/grayson_menu.html The Ken Grayson Mills Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024952/http://www.artplusradio.org/podcasts/shows/Preservation_Hall_06272007.mp3 ART+ Interview with Ben Jaffe  (July 2007)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080226215107/http://www.wwltv.com/historicbuildings/stories/wwl021608tppreservation.caa3c6a2.html Historic Architecture of Preservation Hall]
{{Coord|29.9583|-90.0654|type:landmark_region:US-LA|display=title}}

{{Music venues of Louisiana}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:French Quarter]]
[[Category:Music venues in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Jazz clubs in the United States]]
[[Category:Music venues completed in 1961]]
[[Category:Jazz in Louisiana]]
[[Category:1961 establishments in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Historically African-American theaters and music venues]]